When We Were Wolves – The More Things Change, The More We Stay The Same

The South Wales metal machine is at it again. Not content with producing several already world-famous metal bands, now metalcore/grindcore band When We Were Wolves have reared their heads with brand new EP, imaginatively titled The More Things Change, The More We Stay the Same.

It’s easy to say this from the outset with this record. It makes a lot of other records look rushed. The More Things Change… is so tightly performed, it makes precision engineering look like it’s done with a jackhammer. It opens with the atmospheric and soft-sounding All Good People Must Come to An End (they really have a way with names, don’t they?) which is a bit of a gamble, as a soft opener on a short EP means that a lot of showcasing time is taken up with it.

Happily, it works well, and the EP drops into the onslaught that is Under the Water, which very much sets the tone for the rest of the record. It’s quick, talented metal that could almost be classed as djent if it was slightly more chaotic – it’s certainly tight enough to come under that umbrella, but isn’t quite there. It puts one in mind of Parkway Drive (in fact the screaming sounds extremely Parkway-esque), Architects or While She Sleeps, a great line up to be compared to.     

Issues – very few and far between for this one. The More Things Change… is going to project When We Were Wolves very far indeed. It might sound a little like ‘more of the same’ to someone who listens to a lot of this type of music, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Instead it just means that a listener like that has one more ban d to add to their tastes.

So, The More Things Change, the More We Stay the Same is an extremely tight, well written and well performed EP, that’s definitely going to blast When We Were Wolves into the big-leagues. They’re going to be appearing on the radar very, very soon, expect big things. As for this EP, a great 9/10.

Track Listing

All Good People Must Come to An End

Under the Water

This is Where We Belong

Your Sick Fantasy

Hounds (feat. Phil Cross)

When We Were Wolves Are

Mitch Bock – Vocals

Steve French – Guitars

Rhod Evans – Guitars

Ben Taylor – Bass

Josh Baker – Drums